1 Samuel 5–6

The Ark in Philistine Hands

5After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer ^rto Ashdod, ^s2brought it into the temple of Dagon ^tuand placed it next to his statue. ^v3When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. ^wSo they took Dagon and returned him to his place. ⁴But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. This time, both Dagon’s head and the palms of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained. ^x5That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.

⁶The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, ^yterrorizing ^zand afflicting the people of Ashdod and its territory with tumors. ^abc7When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.” ⁸So they called all the Philistine rulers together ^dand asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?”

“The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So the men of Ashdod moved the ark. ⁹After they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against the city of Gath, ^ecausing a great panic. He afflicted the men of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors. ^f

¹⁰The Gittites then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!” ^g

¹¹The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. ^hThey said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. It must return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!” ⁱFor the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. ^j12The men who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven. ^k

The Return of the Ark

6When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, ²the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners ^land pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”

³They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering. ^mYou must send back a restitution offering to Him, ⁿand you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.” ^o

⁴They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him?”

And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice ^pcorresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, ^qsince there was one plague for both you ^rand your rulers. ⁵Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, ^sand perhaps He will stop oppressing you, ^tuyour gods, and your land. ^v6Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? ^wWhen He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left? ^x

⁷“Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. ^yHitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box ^zbeside the ark. ^aSend it off and let it go its way. ⁹Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, ^bit is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished ^cus—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. ¹¹Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. ¹²The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. ^dThey stayed on that one highway, ^elowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.

¹³The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. ¹⁴The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^f15The Levites ^gremoved the ark of the Lord, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁶When the five Philistine rulers ^hobserved this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

¹⁷As a restitution offering to the Lord, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: ⁱAshdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. ¹⁸The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. ^jThe large rock ^klon which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.

¹⁹God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. ^mnHe struck down 70 men out of 50,000 men. ^oThe people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. ²⁰The men of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of this holy Lord God? ^pWho should the ark go to from here?”

²¹They sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath-jearim, ^qsaying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and get it.” ^r